India series is almost as hot as the Ashes, says Graeme Swann

Tuesday 19 July 2011 11:08 BST

Graeme Swann believes this summer's Test series against India will provide a cricketing challenge that is almost as great as an Ashes showdown.

If England beat India by at least two clear Tests in the four-match series, which begins at Lord's on Thursday, they will replace the tourists as the world's No1-ranked Test team - the goal of captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower since they took control early in 2009.

Australia are ranked only fifth but the history and tradition of the Ashes means that contest should stand alone, according to Swann, yet the spinner concedes that matches against India are almost as demanding.

"You should view an Australian series as a separate entity because it's the Ashes and there will be nothing for an Englishman or an Australian to rival that on its own," said Swann today. "It's just the hype and sheer size of the series.

"But this series coming up is as close as you're going to get at the minute. India are the No1 team in the world and they've got there on merit - there's no way to cheat those rankings. You need to earn your points to get to the top and they've done that, so it's a massive series for us.

"Whether it will be tougher than the Australia series, it's very hard to say. Going to Australia and winning 3-1 there was probably the toughest series I've played in, just because it was in foreign conditions, so who knows?"

India arrived in England only nine days ago and have just three days of competitive cricket - a drawn tour match against Somerset - behind them in this country and Swann hopes that Strauss's side can take advantage of that lack of preparation.

He added: "Hopefully the Indian guys wouldn't have had much time to bat in the middle and that will show on Thursday or Friday.

"We had three very strong games going into the Ashes and that held us in good stead.

"India had that one game at Taunton where Somerset certainly didn't roll over and die like many county teams have in the past."

Swann also bemoaned India's refusal to allow the maximum technology to be used against England this summer but hopes the standard of officiating will be high enough to ensure the series progresses smoothly.

India's opposition to the Decision Review System means that ball-tracking device HawkEye will not be available to officials standing in the four Tests. That, in turn, means leg-before decisions can only be queried if a batsman believes he hit the ball before it struck his pad.

As an off-spinner, Swann has used DRS to good effect on many occasions and wishes it were present against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team.

"It's a good thing," Swann said. "It's been proven to work, it gets rid of a few glaring errors and it's a shame it's not being used. I hope there aren't any decisions that change Test matches because of it.

"It's one of those things that the Indians have been reluctant to use since it came out. All over the world there are traditionalists and I'm sure there are some people at Lord's who are happy with this situation. "The standard of umpiring has improved because of DRS."

Alastair Cook has signed a two-year contract extension with Essex. The in-form England opener said: "I'm delighted to sign a new deal and I look forward to being part of a young squad which I'm sure will win trophies in the coming years."